2010-11: Jones joined the U.S. National Team Development (NTDP) program, splitting time between the USHL squad, U-17, and U-18 teams. In the USHL, Jones played in 28 games, scoring 1 goal and adding 13 assists for 14 points. For the U-17 squad, he tallied 4 goals and 17 assists for 21 points in 37 games. For the U-18 team, he picked up 10 assists in 20 games. Jones also represented the U.S. in a couple of tournaments. At the 2011 World Junior Challenge U-17 Tournament, Jones scored 1 goal and added 1 assist for 2 points in 5 games. At the 2011 U-18 World Junior Championship, he tallied 3 assists in 6 games for the gold medal squad.

2011-12: Jones continued his play for the NTDP, splitting time between the USHL team and the U-18 squad. Jones, who captained the USHL team, scored 4 goals and added 8 assists for 12 points in 20 games. For the U-18 squad, he scored 8 goals and added 23 assists for 31 points in 52 games. Jones captained the USA's entry at the 2012 U-18 World Junior Championship, scoring 3 goals and adding 5 assists for 8 points in 6 games for the gold medal squad. The Portland Winterhawks acquired the rights to Jones from the Silvertips.

2012-13: Originally committed to playing college hockey at North Dakota, Jones decided to play in the Western Hockey League and joined the Portland Winterhawks (who had obtained his rights from Everett). In 61 games for Portland he scored 14 goals with 42 assists and was plus-46 with 33 penalty minutes. The Winterhawks had the WHL's best record, winning 57 of 72 games. In Portland's first ten playoff games he scored 2 goals with 6 assists and was plus-eight. Jones was an assistant captain for the USA squad at the 2013 U20 World Junior Championship as an 18-year-old and in six games for the gold medal winners was plus-eight with 1 goal and 6 assists. Jones was the top ranked North American skater in Central Skating's mid-season rankings prior to the 2013 NHL Draft, and remained the top-ranked North American in the CSS final rankings.

Talent Analysis

Future

Jones is already making strides in the NHL at just 19. Between Jones and Shea Weber, who was signed long-term by Nashville, the Predators have their top line power play unit and potentially their top line defensive pairing. There is no question Jones will be a top pairing defenseman at the NHL, the question now is how good of a top line defenseman he will be.

Share this story

Photo: Canadiens forward Alex Galchenyuk skated less than 14 minutes on opening night against Toronto, but still registered two assists in the defeat (courtesy of Jana Chytilova/Freestyle Photography/Getty Images)

The Fall edition of the Hockey’s Future ranking of the Top 50 NHL prospects concludes with the top 10 prospects, led by Montreal’s Alex Galchenyuk. The top spots were tightly contested with many of the prospects already having made their mark in the NHL.

Share this story

Photo: Nashville Predators top pick, Seth Jones, was the first player off the board from the WHL at the 2013 NHL Draft (courtesy of Mike Stobe/Getty Images)

The Colorado Avalanche effectively eliminated any drama surrounding the first overall selection at the 2013 NHL Draft by spreading the word weeks in advance that they were leaning toward selecting a forward. True to their word, the Avalanche bypassed Portland Winterhawks defenseman Seth Jones in favor of the Halifax Mooseheads’ Nathan McKinnon. In fact, Jones dropped to fourth overall where he was picked up by the ecstatic Nashville Predators.

Share this story

Photo: The Predators landed defenseman Seth Jones, thought to be a potential first overall pick, with the fourth selection. Jones is expected to step into a top-pairing role alongside Shea Weber for Nashville next season (courtesy of Frederick Breedon/Getty Images)

The Nashville Predators held the fourth overall pick in the 2013 NHL Draft, and found themselves the consensus “luckiest team in the draft.” Considered by many to be the best prospect available in the draft, Seth Jones fell from a potential first overall pick right into the hands of David Poile at fourth overall. The Preds entered the day with 10 draft picks and picked 10 players, but only after trading the 112th overall pick to St. Louis for 203rd overall and a pick in next year’s fourth round.

Share this story

Photo: Portland Winterhawks defenseman Seth Jones and his fellow 2013 NHL Draft top prospects have been kept busy on Draft Weekend with various events in the NYC/NJ area (courtesy of Rich Schultz/Getty Images)

For much of the 2012-13 season, Portland Winterhawks defenseman Seth Jones was considered the consensus top prospect in the upcoming 2013 NHL Draft. With the Colorado Avalanche holding the top pick it appeared to be a foregone conclusion that Jones would be heading to Denver, where his father once played professional basketball and where Seth first started playing hockey.

Share this story

Photo: Portland Winterhawks defenseman Seth Jones has been the top-rated defender for the 2013 NHL Draft since the start of the 2012-13 season (courtesy of Marissa Baecker/Getty Images)

Here’s a look at our top 10 prospects from the Western Hockey League for the 2013 NHL Draft, a group that includes a very top-heavy batch of elite defensemen. All players in our ranking attended the NHL Combine last month.